Last night downtown Los Angeles was ablaze with the lights and sounds of Pershing Square, an outdoor venue home to a series of summer concerts. The grassy area surrounding the elevated stage was filled with all manner of folk and their pets, and the mood was light and festive.

Denver’s The Chain Gang of 1974 (consisting of one member plus a backing band) sounded a lot like a dance band with soul, indie, rock, and funk elements. Lead singer/ Chain Gang mastermind Kamtin Mohager was more than just a singer, adding keyboard riffs, cowbell, and the occcasional drum solo with the kind of energy that keeps a band like this fresh onstage. With elements of 80’s synth and aptly named songs like ‘dancekisslovemove’, The Chain Gang of 1974 will only get better and (hopefully) stranger with more crowd participation as well as playing more live shows.

When headlining band Wallpaper began, all of the audience members lounging on the soft grass surrounding Pershing Square made a beeline for the stage. With a live drummer, recorded tracks, and a hilarious and talented lead singer, Wallpaper sounds like anything but….wallpaper. They dabbled in funk, hip hop, electronica, and Motown, the combinations perpetually shifting and reforming like the many patterns inside a kaleidescope. It was sort of like an outrageous tribute to Justin Timberlake, Michael Jackson, and Prince, but with enough originality and talent to pull off nods to such musical giants.

With colorful advice like “Don’t drink and drive…do drink and get on the Metro” and raunchy directives aimed at drummer Arjun Singh whom he referred to as ‘Wayne Gretzky’, lead singer Ricky Reed drew the audience’s attention like a magnet. Between songs, he kept the energy high by telling stories from his own life that were of questionable veracity, every anecdote eliciting roars of laughter from the crowd. Wallpaper reminded me a little of Flight of the Conchords, not only because most of their lyrics were clever and funny but because they had the musicianship to perform well enough to foster group claps and a host of dancers at the front of the stage.

BestNewBands.com

 

Wallpaper is currently on a national tour, the next stop being the Treasure Island Pre-Party at The California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco next Thursday, Aug 26^th. For more information, visit:

www.myspace.com/wallpaper

www.myspace.com/thechaingangof1974

http://www.laparks.org/pershingsquare/

http://www.calacademy.org/events/